Super Moderator

She is a pretty good looking pitcher. I'm not proficient at mule kicks--although I have been called another portion of a mule's anatomy from time to time.

(A) She is pulling her arm down immediately after she throws. She get her arm in a nice "L", and then yanks it down. She is probably tensing up her arm muscle before release. So, she is slowing down her arm, probably in order to control the ball.

(B) She needs a bend in her elbow at 12:00 to develop some whip action.

(C) Sometimes her glove comes down on the outside of her left hip, which indicates that she is "throwing her glove" off to the left.

That was pretty much what I had in mind with the girl that inspired my thread although it was a bit more pronounced with my girl than it seems to be with your student. You may have already read it but Bill posted an excellent drill to help correct it that your student can practice in the comfort of her own home.

No kinetic chain. No leading with the hip either toward the plate or in terms of rotation. If you saw a bb pitcher doing this you would instantly recognize an all upper body and arm throw. Same same IMO. This is why she pikes forward and will struggle keeping it low since she can't release by the leg but must release out in front. This makes controlling the release point much harder. Windmill See the hips lead by comparison in these clips. See the hip snap transfer momentum up the kinetic chain. I agree with slugger about the lack of arm whip. With no kinetic chain transferring momentum all that's left is muscle which causes tension which discourages whip even if her arm and shoulders were in a position to whip the arm.

Amy
Sluggers and Mark are right on but you also have an issue with her foot coming off the rubber too early. You may need to get her to shift her right foot back on the rubber slightly or adjust her weight over the right foot at the onset of her motion, I would need to see more to determine exactly what is happening there and what her individual style would require to correct this.

As for the "mule kick", again Sluggers and Mark are right on target here. You may want to try explaining this to her in a different way then being technical since she is 11. What she needs to start doing is using her belly muscles to pull her left hip around after the release to put her in fielding position. A couple things help them understand this better. For using the belly muscles I associate this with either a hulahoop type motion (to explain what muscles you want her to use) tell her she wants to use her hips the same way she has to get a hulahoop to rotate counterclockwise OR this age group seems to relate well with using the dancing analogy. Get her to loosen up by dancing out there and get her laughing. Then show her the BOP. Start by having her bop your hip out to the side then slowly work your way in front of her until she is "BOPPING" you in front. This is far from technical but young girls do not always learn by telling them what you want. You have to make it fun and work them into the correct motion using various games. Once she starts moving forward tell her this is the motion you are looking for after her release. It will be a bit different than dancing obviously but the generally idea will come across and you should see results quicker because she has a fun motion to relate it to. If this does not work, let me know I have tons of these. It is easier to find what works when you know the personality and background of the kid but there is always a way to help them understand these confusing technical aspects of pitching. You can also try a simple demonstration of how she is landing. Have her hold her position after her release and walk up to her and push her over. Now have her set her right foot forward and into a solid defensive position you would have without the "mule kick" and show her how hard it is to puch her over. Also demonstrate in each of these positions her ability to protect herself from a line drive and remind her how fast that ball can come back at her. Good luck.

I have always found that most problems originate from the ground up. Watch her right foot. It never does the same thing twice. Something different in all three pitches. Two of the three examples show her right foot ending up in front of the plant foot. Gotta fix that before anything is addressed.

She's not pitching. She's not doing anything right from the get go. She's just taking a step and pushing the ball. All the rest of the stuff mentioned flows from there. Can't finish if you don't start. If you can get hold of the late Jim Dixon's book on elite athletic motion his central seminal and only, IMO, point in that book is how elite athletes move the middle which is the skill this athlete has no concept of. If she knew how to whip the arm I'd say try having her do long toss to encourage learning to use her body but this one has to start over IMO. Everything she knows is wrong. So, she either maximizes what she's doing now by working on spotting the ball and changing speeds and enjoys the game at a lower level or she breaks everything and starts over. I can't sugar coat it where a kid is concerned. Too important.

I gotta kinda agree with Mark. I would recommend she start all over again and the first step could be from the ground up eliminating the feet altogether until she is ready to throw from a standing position and that would not be until she learned the strong front leg and the torque gained from the core of her body. You need a strong foundation and work up from there.